Judging Underway at Fifth Annual New York International Olive Oil Competition

At 9 o'clock the first samples were distributed to 15 judges whose determinations will lead to the unveiling of this year's best extra virgin olive oils at a live-streamed press conference Thursday evening.

The room is quiet, the staff is ready and our panel is well rested. Now our mission is to give each and every one of the 910 samples the attention it deserves.- Curtis Cord, NYIOOC president

At 9 o’clock the first samples were distributed to 15 judges whose determinations will lead to the unveiling of this year’s best extra virgin olive oils at a press conference Thursday evening.

That the industry’s most prestigious quality contest takes place far from where olives are grown might be surprising to some, but it makes perfect sense to the men and women on the judging panel from 10 countries who return each year to recognize and celebrate the cream of this year’s crop.

“There is no place like New York,” said Konstantinos Liris, a Greek olive oil expert, 2016 panel leader and four-time judges at the NYIOOC. “This is the pinnacle event in our industry and it’s an honor to serve on the panel with these esteemed colleagues.”

Curtis Cord, the NYIOOC founder and president, said his team has prepared all year to provide the best possible support for the judges to do their important work. “The room is quiet, the staff is ready and our panel is well rested,” Cord said this morning as the judging was about to begin. “Now our mission is to give each and every one of the 910 samples the attention it deserves.”

NYIOOC Judge Brígida Jiménez Herrera

Despite a difficult harvest season across many areas of the Mediterranean, the event set another record for the number of entries, beating last year’s record by 83 brands and making the NYIOOC, by far, the world’s largest olive oil competition both in terms of the number of contestants and the countries respresented.

Producers, chefs, food buyers and discerning consumers will be watching the announcement of the results Thursday at 5:30 PM (EDT) on Facebook Live and the official results website, bestoliveoils.com, when the best olive oils for 2017 will be revealed.